Animal Rights and Human Obligations

by Tom Regan (Editor), Peter Singer (Editor)

Collection of historical, theoretical and applied articles on the ethical considerations in the treatment of animals by human beings.

Genres: Philosophy, Animals, Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Tom Regan was an American philosopher who specialized in animal rights theory. He was professor emeritus of philosophy at North Carolina State University, where he taught from 1967 until his retirement in 2001.

Regan was the author of numerous books on the philosophy of animal rights, including The Case for Animal Rights (1983), one of a handful of studies that have significantly influenced the modern animal rights movement. In these, he argued that non-human animals are what he calls the "subjects-of-a-life", just as humans are, and that, if we want to ascribe value to all human beings regardless of their ability to be rational agents, then to be consistent, we must similarly ascribe it to non-humans.

Reviews

[Basil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent exploration of various views of animal rights throughout Western ethical philosophy, from the ancient Greeks to the Enlightenment to modern thought.

[Brian Beatty · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of philosophical treatises on the question of animal rights. As a source book on views through history, it's terrific and concise.
This is not a book for convincing anyone of one view or another, but more for a reader interested in a thoughtful review of the history of the philosophical underpinnings of the animal rights question. As such, I'm particularly fond of the essays by Henry Salt and Mary Midgley.

[Heather Browning · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid collection. I felt its strength was in the bringing together of some historical writings on animals and their moral status. Although it is somewhat dated now, it contains many of the central ideas in the field.